Nutcracker Cookies

Some of you might remember that my Grandpa was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma right around this time last year. He had a rocky start to 2011, but his strength carried him through some very tough times and he enjoyed a happy and stable summer and fall season.

He has unfortunately encountered another set back with his health over the past week. He battled a blood infection which landed him back in the hospital. He overcame it with antibiotics, only to find himself with yet another mysterious blood infection, fighting for his life, as of yesterday. It’s been a shock to our family as the doctor said he was in remission just before this all happened.

All this has made me realize that every day we wake up in good health is a day to celebrate. Forget about being down on yourself for the number on the scale, the guilt over yesterday’s indulgences, and whether you think you look “perfect” in your holiday dress.

If you wake up healthy, it’s already a great day.

and my Grandpa would argue, even if you wake up unhealthy it can still be a great day.

This past summer, Grandpa was the best I had seen him since his diagnosis last December. He was vibrant, active, and loving life. Despite his cancer, he carried on life as usual working up at the cottage, visiting with family, and doing renos all summer long.

He’s taught me so much in my life, most importantly, with the right attitude and faith, anything is possible. He is a true role model in my life.

Did I mention he already beat cancer once in his life? He’s one tough cookie!

I actually made these cookies before I found out the news, but in a way, they oddly remind me of my Grandpa. They are both tough cookies.

And of course, I mean that in the best way possible. :)

Nutcracker Cookies

I wanted to come up with my own vegan Christmas cookie this year. After a lot of brainstorming, I envisioned a hearty, nutty cookie with a crisp, toffee-like exterior and a chewy, doughy middle. After several trials, that’s just what they are. Don’t let their homely appearance fool you either, these are one of our favourite cookies to come out of the oven. Toasting the nuts beforehand results in an incredibly flavourful cookie, so don’t skip it. The most important tip I can give you is not to undercook them. You’ll want a golden brown bottom, almost toffee-like in appearance, for the middle to be cooked enough. You’ll see what I mean below.

1.Preheat oven to 325F. Chop nuts and toast in the oven for 12 minutes, watching closely after 10.

2. Meanwhile, melt the Earth Balance in a bowl in microwave. Now whisk in the brown sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth.

3. Whisk in the salt, cinnamon, and baking powder. Chop the pitted dates.

4. Remove nuts from oven and stir into the dough mixture. Stir in the chopped dates.

5. Stir in the flour and then the ground flax. The mixture will be very sticky, but it shouldn’t be so sticky that you can’t handle it. If it is too sticky (and this might be the case if using a different flour), add a tablespoon of flour at a time, but I wouldn’t add more than a couple.

6. Shape into balls (just smaller then golf balls), with lightly wet fingers if necessary. Compact dough together tightly. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. No need to space them out as they don’t spread.

7. Bake for 18 mins at 325F, checking the bottoms after 15-16 mins. To get mine cooked in the middle, I had to slightly brown the bottoms (see below). Cool for 5 mins on the sheet and then transfer to cooling rack. The middle will firm up a bit more as they cool.

*Notes: Coconut oil works as a sub for EB, but the flavour won’t be as buttery. I made a trial with brown rice flour (using 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp flour) and it held together fine, but it was gritty. For a gluten-free version, I suggest using certified GF oat flour. Other flours probably work too!

The cookies come together very easy! Just toast the nuts, mix the batter, chop the dates, add flour and flax, and mix it all together.

Your dough should look like this…sticky!

The dough is really sticky to handle, so if you need to lightly dab your fingers in a bowl of water, feel free. When shaping the cookies, make them just smaller than golf balls and really squeeze the dough to compact it together.

I had to make quite a few trials of these cookies to figure out what the perfect temperature and baking time was. In my oven, 325F and 18 mins of baking time resulted in the perfect cookie. Depending on your baking sheet, oven, and altitude, this time may vary. To get the cookies cooked in the middle, I had to cook them until they were golden brown on the bottom.

This golden bottom, resulted in the perfect middle:

Perfectly cooked middle (after cooling):

If you don’t bake them long enough, you will have an undercooked middle, as shown below:

You don’t want that!

After cooling, they have this amazing toffee-like, chewy, and dough interior with a crispy and crunchy shell! We’re pretty much obsessed with them. For my first original Christmas cookie, I was really pleased with the outcome. Eric insisted I keep all the “failed” trials for him to eat! I’m also freezing a bunch and will give them to family members on the weekend.

Make these cookies for someone you love, maybe even crazy Uncle Ted.

Most of all, never forget your sense of humor during the holiday season.

My Grandpa still has his.

and I’m sure he would agree with me that Nutcrackers are really creepy.

So sorry to hear about your grandpa’s setback. It sounds like he is a really strong and wonderful man and I’ll be thinking of him and your family and sending lots of positive thoughts & vibes your way!

Your grandpa is an inspiration.
It’s so true, too. If you wake up alive and well, or otherwise regardless, it’s a good day.
And there is more important things than looking *perfect* in your holiday dress.

My boyfriend’s mom must have 100 nutcrackers around the house at Christmas. She lines them up along ledges on the stairs, so when you come in the front door they stare down at you. I hate them! Creepy!

So sorry to hear about your grandpa Angela. I hope you’ll hear some good news soon. He sounds like a very positive person and must be so proud of you!

Can we talk more about those truffles? I made them the other night and my husband loved them! They were SO good! We had two each. Which leaves 12 to take to my in-laws .. . . if they last that long! :)

Angela, I’m so sorry to hear about your grandpa! I will be thinking about you and him in the coming days. Please keep us posted. Cancer is a complete bit*h. My mom is battling stage IV breast cancer right now. But she is putting up an awesome fight and your grandpa will, too!

Peace and healing energy to your wonderful grandpa. I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers. Yes, waking up each day to a healthy self is a gift all on its own. To life, health, and delicious eats! Looking forward to making these cookies this weekend, since I made the berry bliss oat bars and pumpkin spiced donuts this past Sunday; absolutely delicious treats. Thanks, Angela!

Angela, your grandpa is SO CUTE! I am a nursing student, and I love all these little old men I get as patients all the time. They are adorable, tell the best stories, and often have such a positive outlook, it’s just inspiring. I truly hope he feels better and things can be resolved, especially with the holidays approaching. Just keep the faith! It sounds like with you he has a wonderful support system in place.
The cookies look awesome, but I am with Liz… I am so excited to make your truffles. I am actually planning on giving them away as a gift, too. Yay!

First, so sorry to hear about your grandpa and the setback and challenges he is going through. I will keep him and your whole family in my thoughts and prayers. This is an especially hard time of year to have anyone going through something so tough.

The cookies…oh, wow! The shot of them before baking…I doubt I would have even bothered with baking them :) Seriously I love dough of all kinds and yes I love the toffee/caramelized sugar vibe but raw dough usually trumps that.

You did an amazing job with them from recipe development to the photos…wonderful work!

I’m so sorry to hear about your grandpa! My FIL had MM. If you need to talk to someone who understands the struggle, feel free to shoot me an email. My FIL had a good amount of success with a stem cell transplant. If they find your grandpa has relapsed, *insist* they run the blood test for refracted MM which is usually how it comes back and is highly treatable when diagnosed early. It could’ve saved my FIL’s life and if one person can benefit from this info, it’s worth sharing.

Hi! My grandpa also had multiple myloma. The thing is they can go into remission but will mostly likely get spots somewhere in their body again. My grandpa’s were in his lower back vertabrae. He was in so much pain and Fought the good fight until he just let himself go home in 2004. I will be trying to make these wonderful cookies this year. Grandpa’s are tough cookies aren’t they! I miss mine and was just wishing last night that I could talk to him. This is what I was looking for! Thanks for your blog and sharing your heart with us. With love, Diane

Oh, Angela, so sorry for your granpa. My prayers will add to yours. I can understand your feelings because last year in the days before Christmas my grandma was in hospital and she was so ill and bad… It’s hard to live such situation while people out there are laughing and having fun. Wishing you, your granpa and your family all the best.

Cookies look yummy. Prayers and healing thoughts to your grandpa. My stepdad had active MM after being in remission for a year. I love the tough cookie comparison – my grandpa was indeed a tough cookie!!

I love the idea of these! I have cookies and fudge in tins right now all ready for homemade gifts to be handed out but the fudge tin is looking sparse. I’m thinking I could add some of these in to bulk it up. Especially because I have all the ingredients :)
And for the record I’m with you, Nutcrackers are seriously creeptastic.

Angela, wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas, and sending prayers and positive vibes that your Grandfather will be feeling better very soon! xo ps. Thanks for your inspiration all year long :)

Thanks for the post and the reminder to appreciate the health that we have. I’ve been actively trying to do this daily, especially during this holiday season when we tend to get caught up in how we look, how much weight we gain, how many cookies we eat, instead of focusing on what really matters – health, love, friends, and family. Happy holidays to you!

So sorry to hear about your Grandfather. He sounds like a wonderful man. I’ll say a prayer for him.
The Nutcracker cookies are a must try! I just saw the Nutcracker ballet this week, so this will be a perfect thing to do on Friday, if we get sent home a few hours earlier. (Fingers crossed!)

Holidays are always a little bit tough when a family member is sick, my grandfather is on oxygen since he smoked most of his life. He also has Alzheimer’s and he’s been slipping a lot this year. Its hard to see him not be able to finish his sentences, and know that he’s a proud WW II vet that only a few years ago used to chop all the firewood for the wood stove and be an expert fisherman and fly tier. It makes me look up to my grandmother so much, she is selfless a bundle of energy that refuses to sit down and always makes ENORMOUS meals for holidays. Her goal in life is to someday have no grass in her lawn, just gardens full of flowers and every kind of vegetable you can think of. I hope I’m like her someday!!

Although my grandfather is sick, being around family you appreciate the health and happiness of the rest of your family (and your own) so much more and I think that is truly the spirit of the holidays!

I am sorry to hear about your grandfather. It is inspirational that he has such a great attitude! On another note, my boyfriend is terrified of nutcrackers. I have been told I am not allowed to bring one in the house lol.

I’ve noticed that some of the most positive people I’ve met in life are the ones who have had some really rough patches in their life but have pushed through them like no other! It’s always so inspiring. Good luck to your grandpa!